Speaking on behalf of himself, his wife and Canada, Mr Trudeau wept openly, as he remembered the man he described as a friend.

"Gord was my friend and was everyone's friend - it's who he was, our buddy Gord, who loved this country with everything he had.

"And not just in a nebulous, 'I love Canada' way'," he said, his voice trembling, as the words came out.

"He loved every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country that he celebrated his whole life - and he wanted to make it better. He knew, as great as we were, we needed to be better than we were.

"We are less as a country without Gord Downie in it. We all knew it was coming, but we hoped it wasn't."

Drawing attention to the tears rolling down his face, Mr Trudeau said: "I thought I'd make it through this, but I'm not. It hurts."